In 1985, an estimated four million people, age 16 or older, participated in recreational shellfishing in the U.S. and undertook over 28 million days of shellfishing. The top five states, in terms of the number of residents that participated in recreational shellfishing, were Florida, California, Texas, Maryland and Washington. Based on the number of days residents undertook recreational shellfishing, the ranking of the top five states change to Maryland, Florida, California, Texas and
Virginia. Virginia, which ranked fifth in terms of the number of days its residents undertook recreational shellfishing, ranked ninth in terms of the number of its residents that participated in the activity. Washington, which ranked fifth in terms of the number of its residents that participated in recreational shellfishing, ranked sixth in terms of the number of days its residents undertook the activity